TheScooterScoop

The title of this post may not trigger the visuals I intended, unless you has seens the DirectTVs commercial, but never the less, of all the helmets I’ve seen it is the Ruby’s of Paris lids that appear to be the most opulent.

Ruby pulls their helmet materials from the top shelf!  They describe their high class helmets thusly:

All ruby® helmets are made using carbon fibres, a technology inherited from the aerospace industry guaranteeing maximum solidity combined with a feather-light weight.
The pavillon subtly asserts its personality through a number of details:

Its backbone is inspired by knights’ helmets, the chrome-plated strip which runs around the edge of the helmet, its steel coat of arms and its claret interior made of nappa lambskin reminiscent of the aesthetics of vintage luxury cars, the attention to detail given to the design and working of each part, without overlooking its red case which would be worthy of even the finest jewel..
With the ruby pavillon, the helmet is now an object of desire.

We hope you will get the chance to take a close look at one of our helmets, so that you can appreciate the wealth of details, the quality of the finish, the feel of the materials, the professionalism of the technological choices and its incomparable level of comfort.

Made using the carbon fibres?!  Just GREAT!  Now I want to touch one.  Maybe the next time I’m at one of the more exclusive Vespa shops, I get the chance to feels the opulence.  But WAIT!  We’re not done.  If you’re gonna get a Ruby, you might as well get it custom built, eh?  Well, you’re in luck if you’ve got between $965 and $1045 (plus the shippinks) set aside, you can visit the online Ruby Boutique and hand pick a size, paint job, design, trim and even if you want face shield snaps or not.  Just pay a visit to Ruby’s “à la carte” Configurator and get creative!

Now, if you’re the crafty type and you’re a budget you could probably make a pretty snazzy lid out of a $55 Daytona 3/4 shell with enough patience and skill… but if you’re going through the trouble to line it with nappa lambskin, you might want to consider sticking with your dirty, old helmet and saving up a hundred bucks a month until you can order a Ruby.  :)

Think of all the times you were on your scooter and thought, “Man!  I wish I had room for TWO cases of beer.”  Well, SYM (in Taiwan) has a solution for that persistent perplexity and it’s called the Gold Rich!  Well, it’s actually called the 金發財, but I don’t know my 金發財 from my 鞋油.

So, now you’re probably thinking, “So what?!  It’s not like we’re going to ever see it here.”  Well, maaaaaybe.  BUT, crazier things have happened.  With that in mind, I’d like to know what YOU think about the Gold Rich.  It’s a ceramic coated cylinder, 125cc 4-stroke, with heavy suspension, a flip up passenger seat, a 16″ long footwell, comes in seven colors, has a parking brake, and actually has a choice of disc or drum brakes.

Give SYM a hand!  Taiwan doesn’t know what American’s want… neither did their initial distributor, I suppose, and sometimes I wonder if ANY of the majors know.  I can’t expect them to be America’s darling, Genuine, but I still think they have the capability to offer a unique, quality product to the North American market.  You?

The EICMA 2010 show has pulled down the streamers and swept up the confetti and there were actually a  few surprises this year.  For one, BMW is flirting with jumping back into the scooter game with their new sport commuter concept with plans for much “Joy In The City“.  Perhaps they wish to conjure up images of a more family friendly version of Sex In The City with that marketing theme, but frankly it sounds about as good (see: Bad) as Microsoft’s, “Always delightful and wonderfully mine.” theme for their newish Window Phone 7.

Piaggio, on the other hand, is looking to a future with products in step with the meager demands of a broke-ass economy.  The Piaggio NT3 is being called the new Ape (reminder to pronounce AH-peh) and is intended to compete, in India, with the Tatas… er Tata Nano, specifically.  You do remember the Tata Nano, right?  The $2500 car?  Well, if the NT3 does indeed hit production, it is expected to show up to go head-to-head against the Nano by 2012 (being manufactured by Piaggio’s Baramati manufacturing plant) and maybe even make an appearance on European streets around 2013 or 2014.  Nissan is also vying for the Tata market with their New Mobility Concept EV.  Ahhhh, Tata… I just want a shirt that shows off the 2011 line up and says “Tatas!” on the front.

Here’s a rundown of the specs.

Tata Nano EV – Range 99 miles Maximum speed 37mph
Nissan NMC EV – Range 62 miles Maximum speed 47mph
Piaggio NT3 Electric – Range (full electric) “It’s over 9,000!”  (Nah, who knows… they’re makin’ all this crap up anyway)  Maximum speed 18 mph
Piaggio NT3 hybrid – Who knows… something about “either a 200cc or 300cc motorcycle engine and later Piaggio’s hybrid HyS technology will be optional on 300cc-equipped NT3s and all models are expected to achieve more than 70 miles per gallon”.  They could also be considering a model with a 3,000cc rainbow powered engine that produces 700 Brake Unicorn Power (BUP) and burns so cleanly that it leaves only water-soluble sparkle dust as it’s exhaust.  Wheeee!

BEHOLD, the great Japanese Big Scooter – massive, futuristic and fantastically gaudy; Japan’s super custom scooter is slowly vanishing from the Tokyo landscape where it found it’s birthplace.  The two-wheeled offspring of the Dekotora (Decoration Truck) of the mid 70′s, and inspired by the 70′s Kamen Rider (and others), the Big or sometimes called Baka (negative connotation meaning absurd, ridiculous, extreme or dumb) Scooter had it’s heyday in the early to mid 2000′s with dozens of custom scooter magazines and tons of aftermarket parts available.  Today, Japan’s strict noise regulation on <250cc scooters and global economic “cooling” has changed people’s opinions about such expensive and outlandish decorations and now even the magazines have dwindled down to a small handful to make way for the new craze… The American Chopper.  That’s right!  Even though motorbike sales have been decreasing in Japan at a rate of about 10% per year, that hasn’t stopped the Japanese’ attraction to self expression through personalizing their bikes.

Now, instead of the Big Scooter (which never really caught on here in the USA) expect to see more and more of this:

You can keep an eye on the Japanese Mooneyes site for more coverage of how the chopper craze is blazing across Japan.  Thanks to Aki-san for the update (even though it was sad to hear).  Aki believes electrics will catch on as soon as someone figures out how to customize and tune them.  We look forward to seeing Aki’s photos from the floor of the 2010 EICMA show next week!

Howdy folks! I’m hoping you can help me out here. I’m doing a bit of research to try to find the tipping point for electric scooters. Most electrics to date have been too slow, and too expensive. I don’t think the parallel hybrid (gas / electric) scooter is going to stick around very long because the losses (more complexity, more weight, less storage space) outweigh the gains (longer distances, lower fuel expense).

So, if you could do me a favor and take this 4 QUESTION POLL, it could really help developers and manufacturers have a goal to aim for; and they REALLY ARE LISTENING!  (I’ve had two manufacturers request this poll already).

I realize that the expectations could be different for people who currently ride scooters and people who don’t; and in hindsight I wish I would have added “do you currently have a scooter” as a fifth question… C’est la vie.  Thanks in advance for your help!  I hope to get 1,000 respondents before the month is up.  *fingers crossed*

(Oh, and here’s a great children’s book you might enjoy reading with your kids)

Occasionally, following in the footsteps of research giants like the Gizmodo and Dudel, we like to scour the patent and trademark offices for new and exciting scooter developments going on behind the scenes. Sometimes it turns up some pretty hot discoveries but usually it’s just a bunch of minor bits. Today, our research turned up something with the potential to be quite sinister.

Imagine you own a retail store offering parts and services for vintage Vespas.  Well according to this, not yet approved, service mark application; Piaggio & C. S.p.A. Corporation Italy wants to own the words “vintage Vespa”.  No, not a graphical trademark to protect the Vespa logo, but the “Letters or words underlined and/or overlined by one or more strokes or lines; Overlined words or letters; Underlined words or letters”.

So, say the service mark application is approved… what does that mean?  As a shop owner using those two words, you will have to register and pay a licensing fee to Piaggio.  Nice, eh?  Fortunately, “However, no final determination as to the registrability of the mark has been made.”

If you want to see it for your own eyes, go to the USPTO site and type “vintage vespa” in the Search Term box (hit enter).  If you DON’T like it, you still have a chance to challenge the application.